A report by DNSFilter found that Super Bowl Sunday saw a 57% rise in malicious gambling and betting content. 

There was a 15% increase in illegal streaming and torrenting traffic related to fake streaming sites during championship weekend compared to the previous average held between May and December 2024, indicating an escalating risk of security issues tied to streaming during major NFL events.

Domains related to the NFL have been seeing increased security threats, with spikes in malicious activity associated with streaming sites, gambling and possibly phishing attacks targeting Super Bowl fans or bettors. The report found that threat domains with “football” in the domain name surged in January, with spikes on January 14, the day after Super Wild Card Weekend, and Super Bowl Sunday.

Twenty percent of malicious gambling domains identified during the NFL playoffs used a string of numbers in their names, a common tactic for “mirror” sites that attempt to evade detection. If you’re unsure of the legitimacy of a gambling site, this is an indicator that it may be a scam.

Most malicious domains related to betting were categorized as malware, while most traffic came from newly registered domains. A site with a captcha does not necessarily mean it is safe. Some malicious sites will show a captcha before entering because the host is suspicious of the site, but has not taken it down. DNSFilter encountered a handful of fake betting sites with Captchas during this investigation.